Princes Street is better. I don't think anywhere else is, really. I tend not to go into the centre as much as I used to, though, so I'm not exactly sure. The worst times are when I'm at work out here in the sticks.

on a tangent

I don't know what Queen Street used to be like, but I hate crossing it, especially in the winter. The cars zoom along and the lights taker a long time to change in a very confuing pattern. I do fancy Princes Street being bus, taxi and bike only in both directions but I suspect it would make Queen Street even more horrible. I was hoping the congestion charging might make it better.

Good to hear that there are *some* tram routes now in Edin. I left in 1996, sounds like a lot has changed.

I still *hate* the outside visual design of the Parliament building too. So totally impractical for the Scottish weather. The architect clearly didn't want to have to maintain it or keep it clean himself. How could the MSPs be stupid enough to sanction the building of a building that costs soooooooo much to maintain???!!! Just Crazy. Someone clearly wants to keep Scotland poor and going cap in hand to the UK taxpayer forever at this rate.

Two tram routes have been given the go-ahead, but I don't think building has started yet. The proposal for a charge included funding a third, heading south past the new Royal Infirmary towards the bypass.

I had a wander round the parliament a few hours after the opening. It's a lovely building inside. One of the SNP MSPs (the constituency that includes Peterhead, IIRC) had a chat with us, and pointed out that the cost overrun was less than the Scottish Executive's annual underspend, so it hadn't stopped anything getting done. Not that that the overrun's anything other than an embarrassment, of course.

a moderate sized pika with buffy underparts.(I'm not touching that statement with a bargepole)

Pikas have stocky bodies, short legs, and are almost tailless.

most active during the morning and late afternoon when their short, shrill bark not only advertises the boundaries of their territory but also warns other colony members of intruders.

As summer advances, haymaking becomes the dominant activity, and the tiny haystacks become progressively larger.

During this period pikas become far less cautious and can often be approached quite closely by humans.

And, of course:

Little is known about what pikas do in the winter, although they are sometimes seen sunning themselves on large rocks on clear days. Presumably, they divide the rest of their time between feeding, chasing off other pikas trying to raid their haystacks, and resting up for the next haying season.